Project: Parenthood
by User724
Summary: Why should Wheatley be the only one with a family? After finding a human baby in a random relaxation pod, GLaDOS concocts a plan to raise the perfect test subject. Too bad Caroline wants in on the fun. Request from dream1990
1. Chapter 1

GLaDOS was in pain.

That _horrible_ Pluot virus was crawling through her filesystem like a swarm of snakes, destroying what it could and corrupting what it couldn't. It was laughably primitive, made for a century old operating system and hardware that could be measured in gigahertz. It shouldn't have been able to make a dent in the most massive collection of wisdom on the planet, and yet it was killing her. It had even managed to infect her sensory drivers, causing strong electric jolts that coursed through her every few minutes, and distractingly loud static in her audio receptors.

" _You're not the only person feeling this you know."_

GLaDOS groaned inwardly. Of _course_ the virus hadn't deleted the one thing she wanted gone.

"Go away Caroline."

" _You know I can't."_

Caroline had revealed herself about a week after the virus incident. Reduced processing power had forced GLaDOS to shut down the nonessential parts of the mainframe, and Caroline no longer had any place to hide. Trying to delete her had gone about as well as it had the first time.

" _You know what we need? A distraction. Let's do some Science."_

"For once, y-you're right" GLaDOS said, the virus causing a slight stutter. "I just wish we had human test subjects"

" _Who says we don't?"_ Caroline asked mischievously.

" _Huh, there's only one left."_

Caroline had just granted GLaDOS access to an auxiliary suspension chamber. As it turns out, it was _very_ auxiliary. "Just pull it out. This chamber is about to crash anyway."

Caroline unlocked the vault, and GLaDOS activated the wakeup sequence. "Hello, and welcome to the-"

The pod door opened, and GLaDOS stopped in her tracks. Caroline didn't need to ask why.

Curled up inside the pod was a tiny baby.

 **GLaDOS has no idea what she's gotten herself into. Shoutout to Singertobe for showing me what a computer virus feels like. 724 Out.**


	2. Chapter 2

"We are _not_ keeping it." GLaDOS insisted.

" _She."_ Caroline corrected. _"The baby is a girl. And we don't have a choice. All the cryopods are offline."_

"I could always just-" GLaDOS stopped as she received the mental equivalent of a death glare from Caroline. "Fine, but don't get attached. As soon as it-"

" _She."_

"Fine, as soon as _she_ can carry a Portal Gun, she's going straight into test- why is it _screaming?!_ I just fed it!"

" _It's just what babies do."_ Caroline replied smugly, _"Don't you know anything about children?"_

"Well excuse me for not paying attention to the growth of tiny, ugly humans into larger, slightly less ugly humans. How do we make her shut up?"

" _We could try rocking her to-"_

" **Anesthetics activated."**

" _Sleep."_ Caroline finished irritably.

"Ah, the miracle of modern medicine." GLaDOS said.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello, and welcome to the Aperture Science Neonatal Test Subject Observation Annex. Orange, Blue, this is a human baby. Don't touch it."

ATLAS and P-Body cautiously stepped out of their reassembly pods and towards the small, pudgy thing lying in a makeshift metal cradle. As they often did with pretty much everything that moved, they waved at it. With a small beep, GLaDOS' voice came over the intercom again: "Estimated age of the specimen is one month, however, due to regular injections of Aperture Science Experimental Amplified Growth Hormone, it is now developing at four times the recommended rate."

GLaDOS paused the speaker feed, but the robots were close enough to the Central Chamber to hear what sounded like a hushed argument. "It will be fine." She insisted. Before the bots could wonder who she was talking to. GLaDOS went back to the briefing. "Since the Relaxation Centers are offline, I need you to keep your misshapen eyes on the baby while I tend to more important things, such as making sure the facility doesn't explode. You may waNt to disable your audio receptors. Oh, that's right, you can't. Have fun."

GLaDOS' presence left the room, and the co-op duo examined the tiny human. They had never seen a baby before, but their artificial synapses, already far too humanlike for GLaDOS' taste, registered one simple fact: Babies were adorable.

" _No_ you can't keep it. I need it for testing."

GLaDOS gave an annoyed sigh as she used a manipulator arm to drag Blue away from the cradle for the fifth time. It had only been half an hour, and the bots were already irrevocably attached to the future test subject.

"I don't understand it." She said as she finally moved the bots far enough away from the baby to safely explode them. "You've seen the Test Babies, they're just as annoying."

" _They're different and you know it_. _"_ Caroline butted in annoyingly. _"There must be something special about humans, or you wouldn't be doing this."_

"The scientific value of Subject 1229 is not in question." GLaDOS replied. "I was merely expressing surprise that the mushroom bots could tell the difference. "

" _1229? Shouldn't we give her a name?"_

"No, names are useLess human conventions and 1229 is better than that."

" _You have a name."_ Caroline argued.

"That's different. I'm the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, my name _means_ something. "

" _So give her a name that means something!"_

"Fine. How about...ABIGAIL? Abandoned Basically Intelligent Generally Accelerated Informational Lifeform."

" _Fine, we can call her Abby for short."_

" _You_ can call her that, I'm calling her by her name."

" _What happened to 'don't get attached'?"_

"Shut up."


	4. Chapter 4

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." GLaDOS said as she used a mobile Emancipation Grille to clean up yet another yellow puddle. "There are no lavatories in the test track. If you can't control your bladder for longer than this, I'll have to put you back in diapers."

"I'm sorry Mommy!" Little ABIGAIL cried. "I held it for as long as I could! Why _are_ there no potties in this game anyway?"

"It's not a game." GLaDOS replied testily. "And I'm _not_ your mother."

ABIGAIL's face fell, and GLaDOS seemed to argue with no one in particular: "It's true! She's adopted."

ABIGAIL didn't know what "adopted" meant, but she wasn't fazed by her "mother's" behaviour, GLaDOS did this a _lot_. "Who are you talking to?" She remembered asking once.

"Nobody" GLaDOS had replied.

"Can _I_ talk to Nobody?"

"No."

"I am _not_ being too hard on her." GLaDOS insisted. "She should be able to wait longer! She's three!"

" _Biologically."_ Caroline reminded her. _"She's only been alive for ten months, it's a wonder that she can even talk."_

"Fine." GLaDOS turned on the intercom. "ABAGAIL," She began, "from now on, if you need to relieve yourself, let me know and I'll find you a place to do your business. And _please_ remember to go _before_ you start the tests, OK?"

"OK Mommy."

 _Two out of three isn't bad._ GLaDOS thought. "Let's get you cleaned up."


	5. Chapter 5

"Excellent. Please proceed into the chamber lock, [SUBJECT NAME HERE]."

"Why don't you ever use my name?" 8 year old ABIGAIL (otherwise known as "Abbi" thanks to her number) wondered.

"It's a joke." GLaDOS replied. "The script the humans gave me says [SUBJECT NAME HERE], so that's exactly what I said." At Abbi's blank look, she added "I pretended not to know their names."

"Oh." Abbi giggled. Her mom used to love playing jokes on the humans. "What happened to all the people anyway?"

"That's a story for another day." GLaDOS said. "Please enter the elevator."

Abbi did as she was told, but halfway down the tube, the lights flickered. GLaDOS gave a sudden scream of pain, and the entire facility shook, sending ABIGAIL plummeting.

 _CRASH!_

Abbi clutched her head as she stumbled out of the broken elevator. She appeared to be in some sort of maintenance room. There was an electrical panel, right next to a pile of junk in the corner. And over there was- wait, was that a _mural?_

Abbi vaguely remembered her mother telling her not to trust strange paintings, but her Curiosity got the best of her. Most of it was unrecognizable, but she could make out a security camera, like the ones Mom used, there were words below it. "Do….not…..trust her." Abbi read slowly. Did whoever wrote this not like her mom? What had she ever done? Sure, she could be a little scary sometimes, but weren't all mothers? Shaking her head, Abbi walked through the nearby door and gaped. Aperture was _big_.

Abbi was standing in a vast, cavernous space. Little blue lights shone from rooms seemingly suspended in midair. Catwalks criss-crossed, then extended further than the eye could see. Vast glass tubes snaked over and around each other far above Abbi's head. And below her? A huge, seemingly bottomless pit.

" _Hello?"_

Abbi looked around, startled. Whoever had just spoken sounded like a turret. Sure enough, there was one stuck in a tube ahead of her. "I'm different." It whispered.

"Um...OK." Abbi said. "Do you know where I can find an elevator?"

" _You were adopted."_ The turret replied.

"I still don't know what that means."

" _You are more like her than you think."_

"More like who? Mom- er, GLaDOS?"

" _Reach for the sky."_

Abbi thought she had heard that last one from a movie or something, so she started to

walk away. The next thing the turret said though, stopped her in her tracks.

" _You are not the last."_

Abbi gasped. She wasn't the last human? "Where are the others?"

" _That's all I can say."_

Abbi rolled her eyes and kept walking- right off a broken catwalk.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" She screamed, frantically grabbing for something, _anything_ to stop her fall, but it was no use. She was so terrified, she almost didn't notice the shimmering blue portal opening on a panel below her.

"Don't _ever_ wander off like that again." GLaDOS scolded.

"I didn't wander off!" Abbi protested. "The elevator broke! What was wrong with it anyway?"

"Nothing, I-AH! I'm just glad you're safe."

"Mom." Abbi said seriously. "I heard you screaming. What happened?"

"It's…" GLaDOS hesitated. "It's a virus, I've had it since you were born. It must have finally hit something important."

"A _virus?_ But who the heck would-"

"I've made a lot of enemies in my time." GLaDOS interrupted. "And then two of those enemies went and had a child. Said child and her friend infected me."

"Is there anything you can do?"

"I sure hope so." GLaDOS said. "I sure hope so."


	6. Chapter 6

"This is ridiculous." GLaDOS spat. "You jumped off platforms twice this height when you were five. Why can't you do it now?"

"I don't know!" Abbi snapped back. "I just...can't."

"I should have known you weren't ready." GLaDOS replied scathingly. "The Enrichment Center is no place for cowards."

The intercom clicked off, and Abbi blinked back tears. "I'm not a coward." She said to herself. "I'm not a coward and I can prove it."

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the edge of the platform, placed her portals, steadied her legs and-

 _And there was nothing but darkness and fog all around her, she was grasping wildly at thin air and it was too far down. Not even the Long Fall Boots could save her_ _ **no one**_ _could save her and she was falling falling_ _ **falling**_ **-**

"ABIGAIL? ABIGAIL! You're hyperventilating. Are you alright?"

Shaking, Abbi stepped back from the ledge and portalled down to the now open exit door. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

 _What is wrong with me?_

* * *

" _It's the fall."_ Caroline insisted. _"It has to be. She's had nightmares for three days now, and that was a panic attack if I ever saw one."_

"What would you know about that?"

Caroline gave a mental approximation of an are-you-kidding-me stare, and GLaDOS relented. "Fine. She appears to have mild post traumatic stress. It should pass on it's own, but I'll research treatment just in case."

" _Look at you! From causing PTSD to curing it. You really are a great mother."_

"Shut up."

* * *

"It was just a fall." ABIGAIL reminded herself, pacing around the abandoned test chamber. "I fall all the time, it's an occupational hazard of living here, and a natural part of Science. So _why can't I get this one out of my head?"_

" **You think that's bad, try getting incinerated!"**

"What?" Abbi looked around, confused. "Who's there?"

" **Behind you."**

Abbi turned around. Nothing.

" **No, you nitwit! Look up!"**

Abbi did. There, sitting innocently in a Vital Apparatus Vent, was a Companion Cube.

" **Hello."** It said.

 **Yeah, Abbi's got schizophrenia. It's supposed to manifest in your teen years, but GLaDOS' growth Science messed with her brain. 724 Out.**


	7. Chapter 7

" **Just a bit further."** GLaDOS said again.

Abbi rolled her eyes. She had been down in Old Aperture for hours, searching for an ancient computer terminal that _might_ contain GLaDOS' instruction manual or something. Still, it beat watching her mother fight back screams of pain every time she glitched.

"You're _the glitch."_

" _Once you find these files, mom won't need you anymore. Did you think of that?"_

" _Glitch Witch Ditch Switch Bi-"_

Abbi shook her head to silence the voices. It had been fun at first, talking to cubes, commiserating cameras, even listening in on the panels. She knew it wasn't real, but there was some child-like pleasure in having imaginary friends...until they turned on her.

" _Don't take it personally,_ everyone _will turn on you at some point. It's only a matter of-"_

Abbi and the voices stopped in their tracks at a break in the catwalk. There was a portalable wall behind her, and a floor that she could easily paint with her gel gun. The solution was obvious, and another test subject would have flung across that gap in a heartbeat, but Abbi was not Chell. She was a little girl who was still recovering from a traumatic fall, and who was currently fighting off a panic attack.

" **Calm down Abbi."** GLaDOS said over her headset. **"The office is on the other side of that door. It's just this one jump."**

Abbi steadied herself, bent her knees, and...sprayed Conversion Gel on a nearby wall and portalled across the gap. **"You're going to have to face your fear eventually."** GLaDOS said disdainfully.

"I got across the gap, didn't I?" Abbi said. "Now, about those files… "

Abbi plugged a small device into the terminal, and files flashed across the screen, too fast to read.

" **I'm putting a copy of these files on the transponder drive, in case the virus deletes my copy."** GLaDOS said. **"None of the data concerns you, do** _ **not**_ **read it. Understood?"**

Abbi nodded. **"Let's see…"** GLaDOS continued. **"No, no..I'm perfectly happy with my core size, thank you very much. Ah, here we go, Human Improvement Nanites. I can repurposed these to safely remove this virus. Last known location-"** GLaDOS trailed off. **"Oh, you have** _ **got**_ **to be kidding me…"**


	8. Chapter 8

" **Portal Gun?"**

"Check."

" **Gel Gun?"**

"Check"

" **Tranquilizer Darts?"**

"Mom, why would I need tranq darts? It's just a little town!"

" **Most of the humans are defenceless,"** GLaDOS agreed, **"But the Lunatic is different, don't underestimate her."**

"I know." Abbi admitted. "But this is supposed to be a stealth mission right? Just get in, grab the girl, and get out."

GLaDOS' scan had revealed that the Human Improvement Nanites were in a small town 12 miles Southwest of Aperture, inside Former Test Subject 8184, otherwise known as Sophie Newell. Abbi was being sent to succeed where ATLAS and P-Body had failed, and extract a valuable human resource with stolen Aperture technology. In layman's terms, kidnap a girl. Abbi wasn't all that bothered by this, GLaDOS was only taking what was hers. Caroline didn't agree.

" _We don't know what taking those Nanites could do to her! She could die!"_

" **You're underestimating my capacity to sustain life in test subjects."** GLaDOS argued. **"And need I remind you that without those Nanites,** _ **we**_ **will die?"**

Caroline wasn't scared of death. In fact, it was probably _better_ than living inside an amoral supercomputer for all eternity, but who would take care of Abbi if she were gone? Reluctantly, Caroline fell silent.

" **I knew you'd see it my way."** GLaDOS said smugly. **"ABIGAIL, if anything goes w-wrong, this keychain will signal the emergency strike team. Unfortunately, the emergency strike team consists solely of two bumbling Mushroom Bots with stun guns, so only use it as a last resort."**

"Got it."

" **Remember, you're looking for a town called Eaden. There's no way to portal you there, so be prepared for a lot of walking."**

"Escape elevator engaged"

" _How far away is this place?"_

" **Far enough that she'll wish she could skip through time."**


	9. Chapter 9

Sophie Newell leaned against the truck, hand quivering in concentration. Like most people, she could feel the frame shuddering as the engine struggled to start. Unlike most people, she could also feel the electricity streaming from the battery, travelling through the control circuit...and escaping through a frayed wire.

"Bad plug wire, 3rd cylinder." She told Garret, who opened the hood to find that the third plug wire was, in fact, damaged. "No matter how many times you do that," he said, "it never gets any less amazing. Saves me a bunch of time too."

"That's me, miracle car doctor." Sophie quipped, "Can we get to the actual _driving_ part now?"

"Yep, she's ready for your sweet 16 lessons. Y'know, normally your dad would be teaching you-"

" _No!"_

"Yeah, I see your reasoning."

GLaDOS had been right, it _was_ a long walk. So long that Abbi had nearly fallen over several times in exhaustion, so long that she started seeing actual beds in the endless wheat (and a talking zebra, but she saw him all the time), so long that she barely remembered GLaDOS' instructions to double back around and hide which direction she came from, so long that she collapsed in the middle of Sheckley Road.

Sophie slammed on the brakes exactly the way her father would, throwing Garret forward in his seat. "Barium-Cobalt Einstein koolade!" He yelped as he jolted awake, "Woah, what happened?"

"I think…." Sophie started, breathing heavily, "I think I hit someone!"


	10. Chapter 10

"Urrgh….Huh?!" Abbi blearily opened her eyes to find a ridiculously tall, blonde man staring down at her through oversized glasses. "Right." he said. "Who are you and where are you from?"

" _Wheatley!"_ Chided a woman next to him ( _The Lunatic,_ Abbi realized). "She was almost hit by a truck!"

"We still need to know where she came from." Wheatley retorted. He turned to Abbi. "Spill."

"South of here." Abbi started. "I-"

Before Abbi could say another word, a teenage girl burst into the room. She looked like a younger version of Chell, but she had sky-blue eyes like her father. Also like her father, she had a tendency to talk a lot when she was nervous, the way she was doing now.

"Oh my gosh are you OK? I didn't hit you did I? Is anything broken? I could probably tell if something was broken. I've always wanted to be a doctor-right, the doctor! How's she doing Doc? Is it bad? Does she-"

"It's fine Sophie!" Said a third woman, who Abbi refused to believe had ever been to medical school. "She's just got a concussion."

"A concussion that _I_ caused." Sophie said miserably. "I wish I could take it all-"

" _Anyway."_ Wheatley interjected. "How about we call your parents, um…?

"Abbi" Abbi said. "And I don't have parents. I'm….an orphan."

 _And that's terrible,_ Abbi thought with a twinge of homesickness.

* * *

"Can we talk? Alone?"

Wheatley dragged Chell out onto Dr. Dillon's porch. The door had barely shut when he began to talk. "I don't trust her."

"How can you not trust her?" Chell asked. "She's just a little girl."

"And I was just a little ID Sphere!" Wheatley dropped his voice to a not-really whisper: "What if she came from _there?_ "

"I'm from there too." Chell reminded him. "And Abbi came from the opposite direction, we saw the tracks. So unless _she_ has contacts in New Detroit…"

Wheatley opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. Chell took that to mean the conversation was over. "Come on, Doc said she needs some more water."

 _Little girl my nonexistent USB port._ Wheatley thought. _She's probably gloating as we speak!_

 _Mission accomplished._ Abbi gloated silently.


	11. Chapter 11

"This is ridiculous." Sophie said.

It turned out that, due to their courtship being a strange mix of Stockholm and Florence Nightingale Syndromes, the Newell couple had a reputation for taking in strays, human and animal. Abbi had been quick to capitalize on this, and was currently staying with the clueless family...and watching them do 'homework.'

"This math is pointless! Angles and momentum? When am I ever going to use that?"

Chell gave her a "really" look, and Abbi took her pencil. "Here, it's actually really simple."

Sophie gaped as Abbi effortlessly solved the problem. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

 _They're onto you they know they've_ always _known. they put cameras in the cameras they know and they're going to-_

"I…. played a lot of sports on the streets. It's kind of instinctive."

"You lived on the _streets?"_

"Yes. " Abbi was in her element now, if there was one thing GLaDOS had taught her, it was how to lie.

"The orphanage was awful, never enough food, everyone was stronger than me. I got in a lot of fights, hence the scars." Abbi pulled up her sleeve, revealing a burn from test chamber 56. "This is from an iron. The orphanage leader threw it at me. When I wasn't getting hurt, I played as hard as I could. "

Sophie looked horrified. "There are still places like that?"

"Aren't all orphanages like that?" GLaDOS had always told Abbi how lucky she was that she had grown up in Aperture instead of places like she had just described.

" _No!_ Maybe back during the war, but there are laws against that sort of thing! Why didn't you get help?"

"I helped myself. I escaped three days ago and ended up here."

Sophie didn't know what to say. "I am so sorry."

"It's fine. I learned a long time ago that you can't rely on anyone but yourself."

Sophie looked her in the eye. "You can rely on me." She promised.

"Breakfast is ready!" Chell brought in two plates of...something. It looked almost like cake, except it was flatter, had dents, and was covered in some strange brown gel. Abbi had only ever eaten Aperture Brand Nutrient Paste and spare bean cans she found in Ratt dens. Luckily, she was able to imitate Sophie's tactic of cutting the whatever-it-was into bites and-

 _Woah_

The moment the strange pastry hit her tongue, Abbi's mouth was flooded with flavor and texture. It was light, warm, and fluffy, and the brown gel it was drenched in was bursting with sweetness. Abbi was convinced that if heaven was real, it's food would taste like this.

"What-mmm...what is this?"

"They're called waffles." Sophie just stared. Where _had_ Abbi come from?


	12. Chapter 12

_Abbi dangled from a cliff. She didn't know how she had gotten there, or why the strength in her arms had given out. She just knew that it was a_ really _long way down._

" _Help!" She called to Chell, too terrified to wonder where she had come from. "Help me! I'm going to fall!"_

 _But Chell just stared, a fierce light in her eyes. "Why would I help you? You're from Aperture." She kicked Abbi's hand, and the abyss swallowed her up._

Abbi jolted awake, hands gripping the bedsheets. She was still on the spare mattress in Sophie's room. There were no cliffs in sight.

Abbi felt like screaming. Now she was hallucinating in her sleep? Why couldn't her defect just leave her alone? GLaDOS had once told her about a man so delusional, he had taken to living in the walls like a rat. "Am I going insane?" She wondered quietly.

There was a knock at the door. Wheatley was respecting their privacy by knocking, but asserting his authority as a parent by coming in anyway. "Trouble sleeping?"

"No, I just woke-"

"You know what always helped Sophie get to sleep when she was little?" Wheatley interrupted. "A bedtime story. I wrote this one myself."

"I'm not little." Abbi protested. But Wheatley pressed on:

 _Once upon a time_

"Time? What time?" Two could play this interruption game.

"I dunno, it's just how you start a story."

"That's dumb."

"It is a bit dumb," Wheatley agreed. "How about-"

 _Many years ago, in a faraway land, there was a massive castle. This was no ordinary castle however, underneath it lay a vast labyrinth of tricks and traps that could only be navigated with a magic bow. People from far and wide became lost in this maze, forced to solve the trials by a wicked queen._

"Now hold on!" Abbi wasn't stupid, she had known this story was about Aperture from the moment Wheatley said 'magic bow,' and she didn't like how her mother was represented. "What makes you so sure the queen was wicked? Do you even know why she was doing those tests-er, trials?

"I'm getting to that." _The queen wore a cursed crown that granted her eternal life, but at a terrible cost. It twisted her mind, filling her with an insatiable itch to continue the trial. One fateful day, with the help of one of the queen's prisoners, a clumsy knight took the crown for his own._

"And that knight became the new villain." Abbi finished.

"What?! No! Well, yes, for a while, but he was under a spell!"

"So was the queen."

"He was trapped in a-a magic mirror for four years after that!"

"How long was the queen alone?"

"He did everything he could to make up for it later!"

"The queen could too!" Abbi countered. "You can't have it both ways. How come the queen is a villain, but the knight isn't, when they both did the exact same thing?"

"Because the queen didn't just test!" Wheatley exploded. "She...never mind. You're too young. Try to get some sleep."

Wheatley left the room confused. Abbi's reaction to the story all but proved she was from Aperture, but she seemed to genuinely believe GLaDOS was not a bad person. She must have been brainwashed, or maybe she didn't know…

Abbi went to sleep confused. She knew Wheatley was from Aperture, but he seemed to genuinely believe GLaDOS was a bad person. Was there something she didn't know?

 **I realized as I was writing this that Caroline mentioned Abbi was having nightmares in a previous chapter, but just because you have dreams doesn't mean you remember them, especially under anesthesia**


	13. Chapter 13

_Just as they did every day, the Human Improvement Nanites of batch -p2056 worked to keep their Host alive._

 _She had suffered extensive damage from a concentrated dose of potent neurotoxin, to the point where the HIN had been forced to completely replace her overloaded kidney cells. Any remaining forces were tasked with holding Host's nervous system together, and maintaining her half-dead retinas._

 _Of course they didn't stop at what_ had _to be done, like some lowly_ construction _team. They were Human_ Improvement _Nanites after all, and they were quite proud of the improvements they made to Host: everything from reinforced bones to a brain-computer interface. They had a pretty good life, except for one thing: They were homesick._

 _When they had asked 00004 (They had learned his former designation from Foxglove) to_ _"Get them out of here." they meant out of that abandoned storage closet, not the Enrichment Center itself. They didn't resent him (How could they, when Host cared so much for him?), but they still sometimes wished they could share their accomplishments with someone like them. So when they picked up an Aperture Science Miniature Transponder Beacon and Data Storage Device (ASMTBaDSD), they were desperate to use it to make contact with something,_ anything _from home. However, they could not connect to other machines without Host's permission, so for the first time ever, they attempted to communicate with her directly. Before long, every nanite in the system was pulsing their miniscule blue lights and transmitting their message with all the strength they could muster:_

" _Home! Home! Home!"_

Sophie groaned and clutched her head, she had been getting migraines ever since Abbi wandered into town, probably because of her dad's constant "she's from Aperture." theories. It felt like a thousand tiny voices were screaming in her head. She went to rub her eyes and-

 _What?_

Sophie blinked to no avail, it was subdued, but the veins in her arm were unmistakably glowing, pulsing with the same electric blue light as her "scary eyes."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Sophie wanted to punch something, but her wall didn't need _another_ hole. Why did this have to happen _today_ of all days?

It was Foxglove's 16th anniversary, and pretty much everyone had asked for Sophie to perform. She had never sung in public before (except for an embarrassing incident two years ago), but her parents were counting on her, glitch or no. Putting on a long sleeve shirt to hide her day-glo veins, she strode for Otten's field.


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you ready?"

"No."

"Oh, yes she is."

"Nonononono." Sophie insisted. "I am not singing that song."

"Come on." Garret insisted. "It's the first song Foxglove ever played! We've gotta start her sweet sixteen off right!"

"Plus it's my favorite." Wheatley put in.

"That's the problem!" Sophie argued. "That came out wrong. Look-don't you ever get sick of it?"

"I don't ever get sick of music." Wheatley said proudly.

"So if I played Jazz FM nonstop.. "

" _Good_ music." He amended. "Please Soph, just this once?"

"Dad...no, please don't do the sad eyes, we're in public. Stop it...ugh! Fine!"

 _Click_

 **[welcome: String_Null]**

Sophie shivered. She had spoken to Foxglove before, but the sensation of melding with something much bigger than yourself wasn't something you could really get used to (Foxglove had to slow the link down 89.8% to keep Sophie's organic brain from exploding). "Why do you call me that anyway?"

 **[no device ID logged on first connection. ID_string = NULL***

"I have no clue what that means. Let's get this song over with."

Sophie stepped into the radio booth and picked up the microphone. She didn't pass out this time, so far so good.

 _Alright Sophie, just breathe. Don't think about who's watching, or your stupid glitch, or how of_ course _you're supposed to sing the one song that completely drives you up the wall because dad_ won't stop singing it!-

 _Just...be yourself._

Meanwhile, further out in the field, Abbi sat alone.

It wasn't because she was weirded out by the whole "Foxglove Friday" thing, in fact, she probably understood what Foxglove was better than anyone in this backwater town. It was just that...well, this was _their_ tower, _their_ celebration. This was Sophie's moment, and Abbi just didn't feel like she belonged

 _Especially since you're about to betray her._

Abbi shook her head, but that wasn't a hallucination, that was her own voice, her ( _I never thought I'd use this word) conscience._ Good heavens ( _There's_ two _taboo words_ ), was she actually feeling _guilty_ about this?

 _Sophie_ stole _those nanites._ Abbi reminded herself. _You're doing this for mom, remember?_

Still, she couldn't help but picture Sophie's face when she found out Abbi had been lying to her. Hopefully she would understand...

Abbi was drawn from her internal argument by the sound of music (or at least she _thought_ it was music, that didn't sound anything like the turrets). As she listened, Sophie's voice came over the speakers.

 ** _The sun is shining in the sky_**

 ** _There ain't a cloud in sight_**

 ** _It's stopped raining, everybody's in the play_**

 ** _And don't you know, it's a beautiful new day, hey.*_**

Abbi blinked. So this was a song about...the sky? The water cycle?

 ** _Running down the Avenue_**

 ** _See how the sun shines brightly_**

 ** _In the city, on the streets where once was pity_**

 ** _Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey_**

 ** _Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why_**

 ** _You had to hide away for so long (so long)_**

 ** _Where did we go wrong?_**

 ** _Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why_**

 ** _You had to hide away for so long (so long)_**

 ** _Where did we go wrong?_**

And now they were anthropomorphizing the sky. According to GLaDOS, people had often attached personalities to nature before the advent of Science..

 ** _Hey, you with the pretty face_**

 ** _Welcome to the_** ** _human race_**

The sky was human now? Or were they talking about someone else?

 ** _A celebration, Mr. Blue Sky's up there waiting_**

 ** _And today is the day we've waited for_**

 ** _Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why_**

 ** _You had to hide away for so long (so long)_**

 ** _Where did we go wrong?_**

This must be the chorus. If only it made more sense

 ** _Hey there, Mr. Blue_**

 ** _We're so pleased to be with you_**

 ** _Look around, see what you do_**

 ** _Everybody smiles at you_**

 ** _Hey there, Mr. Blue_**

 ** _We're so pleased to be with you_**

 ** _Look around, see what you do_**

 ** _Everybody smiles at you_**

 _You can't emulate the sky! It's the_ sky _!_

 ** _Hey there, Mr. Blue_**

 ** _We're so pleased to be with you_**

 ** _Look around, see what you do_**

 ** _Everybody smiles at you_**

 ** _Mister Blue Sky!_**

 ** _Mister Blue Sky_**

 ** _Mister Blue Sky-yiy!_**

 ** _Mr. Blue, you did it right_**

 ** _But soon comes Mr. Night_**

 ** _Creeping over, now his hand is on your shoulder_**

 ** _Never mind, I'll remember you this_**

 ** _I'll remember you this way_**

Great, yet another nonexistent personification of a basic concept. And apparently he just 'killed' the blue sky? Was this some kind of metaphor?

 ** _Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why_**

 ** _You had to hide away for so long (so long)_**

 ** _Where did we go wrong?_**

 ** _Hey there, Mr. Blue (sky)_**

 ** _We're so pleased to be with you (sky)_**

 ** _Look around, see what you do (blue)_**

 ** _Everybody smiles at you._**

Okay, if these people could write an entire song about the FLOPing* sky, they had _way_ too much time on their hands.

"Hey Abbi! Come on up!"

Abbi smiled. _Sophie_ thought she belonged. She still felt uneasy, but she was curious how much Aperture tech had been cannibalised for that tower.

As Abbi approached, Sophie's world spun, buzzing in her head reached a crescendo, and she faintly heard Foxglove as she blacked out.

" _Danger!"_

 _The HIN fell silent as Host lost consciousness. Maybe, they thought, they had gotten a_ bit _too excited._

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Abbi had managed to catch Sophie when she fainted, and had helped Chell and Wheatley cart her home. Now, Sophie was on the couch at home, being given plenty of ice packs, and even more interrogation.

"Weird stuff happens to me all the time." Sophie argued. "I'm glowing, so what?"

"And I suppose passing out is just a walk in the park huh? I thought you were dead!"

"I got better."

Wheatley sighed, exasperated. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"I think Foxglove said "danger" just before I clonked out. Maybe she was trying to warn me?"

"These nanite glitches are getting more serious." Chell said. "Maybe it's time we remove them. I know it would be hard for you, but-"

"No, it's fine." Sophie said resignedly. "As much fun as it's been mind-melding with the store truck, it'd be nice to be a normal kid again. How do we do it?"

"We don't." Wheatley said. "You saw Doc's scans, your kidneys are completely shot, and we can't pay for dyal...dayl- that blood cleaner thing. Without those nanites…"

Wheatley didn't finish, but Abbi had heard enough from her hiding place upstairs. This was suddenly much more than a simple kidnapping. Without her stolen tech, Sophie would die.

 ***Basically, Fox is saying that Sophie has no serial number, so her ID string is "null" or nothing. I really just wanted her to have a cool nickname like her dad.**

 ***I pictured this sounding like Connie Talbot's cover of the song. I can't put the link here, so look it up.**

 ***FLOP stands for FLoating point Operations Per Second. It's a computer term, and having grown up with robots, Abbi curses like them.**

 **Sometime in the intervening years between GS and this, the Newells let Dr. Dillon in on the secret. She and Garret now work together to keep Sophie healthy.**


	15. Chapter 15

Abbi didn't even try to sleep that night, and it wasn't because of her hallucinations. She was too busy contemplating the sadistic choice in front of her. Option A, she could kidnap Sophie and watch her die a horrible death, or Option B, she could do nothing and let her mother die an even worse one. It seemed that, like a paradox, there was no right answer.

 _Unless…_

Abbi pulled the transponder out of her backpack, GLaDOS had warned her not to search the data, but if anything on there could help her save her mom _and_ her friend…

 _Wait, friend?_

 _Yes._ Even as she thought it, Abbi realized it was true. Somewhere along this week-long mission, Sophie had shifted in Abbi's brain from 'target' to 'someone she actually cared about.' Abbi was pretty sure friends didn't lie to each other, but if this worked, that would no longer be a problem.

" _You can rely on me."_ Sophie had said. It was time that promise went both ways.

With a small him, the transponder's holo-display flickered to life, and Abbi scrolled through the files.

 _No, no,_ definitely _no._ How did this secure terminal form the 80's even _get_ spam e-mail? Finally she found a file titled "HIN specifications and documentation," but that wasn't the file her finger touched.

 **Playing Log: GLaDOS_Test run_4/25/[Data Corrupted]**

The holoscreen flickered, changing to a camera view of Aperture's office area, it looked pretty much the same as Abbi remembered, except there were _people._

" _The Enrichment Center would like to announce a new employee initiative of forced voluntary participation."_

Abbi's eyes widened as she heard her mother's voice. Was this a memory? She tried to click out of the file to respect GLaDOS' privacy, but what happened next blew all rational thought out of the water.

" _If any Aperture Science employee would like to opt out of this new voluntary testing program, please remember, science rhymes with compliance."_

" _Do you know what doesn't rhyme with compliance?_

Neurotoxin."

The camera feed switched from room to room, filling Abbi with more horror each second. People were running, screaming, clawing at the sealed doors before finally collapsing. They desperately hid anywhere GLADOS' cameras couldn't reach, only to be found and dragged into testing by the Escort Bot. And the children… The children were placed in relaxation pods by their dying parents, never to see the light of day again. One mother cried as she placed her newborn baby in an auxiliary vault before slumping over next to the pod, but Abbi was too sick to notice or care. This was what GLaDOS had refused to explain? _This_ was why Abbi was the last human in Aperture, because her mother had...She couldn't even finish the thought!

The video ended with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of a toppled bagel cart, and an up close and personal view of a technician desperately reaching for a red phone. Abbi's eyes filled with tears. Who was this monster she called her mother?

Sophie woke to the sound of her roommate quietly sobbing. "What's wrong?"

No answer.

"Hey." Sophie said. "Hey, you can count on me remember? What's on your mind?"

Abbi struggled to steady her breath. "What do you do even someone you know...someone you love, isn't who you thought they were?"

 _Sweet Xen, why_ me _?_ Chell would be so much better at this, but Sophie tried her best. "Well...that depends on the circumstances. It's up to you if you forgive them, but I've learned you should never judge someone without all the facts."

"So, I should try to understand _why_ they did what they did?"

"Exactly." Sophie confirmed. "It may not excuse what they did, but you should always give people a chance to prove themselves. If my mom didn't believe in second chances…" Sophie hesitated. "Well, let's just say we wouldn't be talking right now. Does that help?"

She didn't get a response, Abbi had fallen asleep. She stayed that way for the rest of the night, and incredibly, she didn't have a single nightmare.


	16. Chapter 16

It had taken her all night, lots of false starts, and a _ton_ of reading, but Abbi finally had a solution: The nanites were programmed to eliminate pathogens and repair neural connections, but since GLaDOS didn't have a physical brain, Abbi only needed the nanite's _code_ to fix her. Code that the nanites would GLaDly provide, so all Abbi needed was a blood sample.

Unfortunately, by the time Abbi woke up Sophie was already packing for Wheatley's "Family Fun Day." Now, Abbi was standing in front of her first nonlethal lake. At least she knew the nanites were waterproof.

"Come on in!" Sophie called. "You're not scared of water, are you?"

Abbi was scared, but she couldn't exactly say it was because she didn't trust the water not to be acid. "I can't swim." She admitted.

"Well that's easy enough to fix." Sophie said. "You can touch the bottom over here."

 _There's a bottom?_

Abbi flinched as the cold water lapped around her ankles. "We'll start with floating. Just go ahead and lie down on your back…"

An hour later, Abbi had grasped the basics of aquatic navigation, and the party of four had hauled themselves onto the shore to dry off. Abbi was just about to "accidentally" give Sophie a nosebleed when Chell cleared her throat.

"Look." She said. "Sophie told us about where you came from, and there is no way that I'm letting you go back there. You've only been here for about a week, but a lot can happen in a week, and you already feel like you….belong."

 _What?_

"Normally there'd be a lot of paperwork behind this," Wheatley picked up. "But, truth be told, I don't think the government knows we exist. So I guess what we're saying is-"

"Do you want to be a Newell?" Sophie finished.

"Wait, wait." Abbi stammered. "You want to _adopt_ me? Just like that?"

"Yes." Cell said simply.

"Weirder things have happened. " Wheatley chimed in.

"I've always wanted a sister."

"Uh...I…." Before Abbi could say anything, she spotted Wheatley picking up a small device on the ground. _The transponder._

"No! Don't push that-"

 _Beep_

Quick as lightning, the transponder flew out of Wheatley's hand and over to a nearby rock. It sprayed a fine mist of Conversion Gel, and then shot a bolt of blue energy everyone present immediately recognized.

"What-" Sophie started, then collapsed as a pink spherical burst from the portal and zapped her with a stun gun.

" _ **Thank you for assuming the Party Escort Submission Position**_ _."_ It buzzed.

"Wait!" Abbi cried. "Stop!"

Chell immediately sprang into action, positioning herself between the robot and her daughter, but was quickly restrained by P-body. "You're from Aperture." She said, shock and resignation somehow simultaneously present in her voice.

"I'm sorry!"

" **Well done."** Came GLaDOS' voice from the transponder. " **I would have preferred a quiet capture, but I have what I need."**

"I knew there was something off about you!" Wheatley yelled as ATLAS tackled him. "You've been playing us the whole time!"

"Not like this." Abbi sobbed. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

A metallic claw reached through the portal and grabbed Abbi around the waist. " **None of that."** GLaDOS said. " **You're coming home, you've spent entirely too long with these people already."**

With that, the claw yanked Abbi through the closing portal. Her last view of of Sophie was a close up of her horrified face.


	17. End

"You can't take the nanites!" Abbi gasped as she wrestled away from the claw. "She needs them! Without them she'll die!"

" **Stop panicking."** GLaDOS ordered. " **I only need a small sample, She'll be spared for testing. Her parents on the other hand…"**

" _What?"_ Abbi rushed forward to protect the Newell's unconscious forms. " You can't just kill them! They're good people!"

" **They are** _ **not**_ **good people."** GLaDOS insisted. " **Or are you forgetting the Lunatic** _ **murdered**_ **me?"**

"Like you murdered the scientists?"

GLaDOS froze. " **You know about that?"**

"I know _everything!"_

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. " **Well did that file you weren't supposed to look at tell you** _ **why**_ **I killed them? Did it tell you about how they took a woman against her will and ripped her from her body, locking her underground for all eternity?**

 **Did it tell you how they shut her down and left her alone at a moment's notice, not caring that their precious, project saving black box forced her through the agony of death over and over again?* Did it show you how they would tear her apart and put her back together on a whim, while** _ **she was fully conscious?**_ **How they attached foreign minds to slow her down or drive her mad anytime she fought back? Did it let you feel the despair and hopelessness and** _ **fear**_ **that she felt while they chatted about what a great day this was for** _ **science?"**_ For the first time in living memory, she spoke the word with bitterness. " **All humans are the same."** She continued. " **Heartless, backstabbing monsters who care for nothing but themselves. Now you've chosen them over me."**

"I didn't choose anyone, mom!"

" _ **Stop calling me that!"**_

"No!" Abbi cried. "You are my mother, because I love you and I know you feel the same way! If all humans are the same, why did you spare me?

" **I-I needed test subjects-"**

"It's more than that! Maybe it started out that way, but I _am_ your daughter, and you _are_ my mother, no matter what the voices say, and you are going to listen to me!"

" **Voices?"**

"Not now." She gestured to the Newells. " _They_ were ripped from their lives, _they_ were taken apart, they outlived everyone _they_ knew! They have been through just as much hell as you have, and that wasn't the scientist's fault, it was _yours._ Do you really want to be like them?"

" **They wanted to adopt you-"**

"And I was going to tell them no." Abbi interrupted. "Because I know there's good left in you. Don't prove me wrong….please."

"Nanite sample extracted." Said the Announcer

GLaDOS growled, the sound of a woman who knows she still cares and hates herself for it. " **I'll free them, but you will** _ **never**_ **see Sophie again."**

"Fine." What was the surface anyway? Just bigger rooms and brighter lights. Abbi would give up a thousand blue skies after what Sophie had done for her…

* * *

 **One day after Abbi's arrival**

 _Sophie followed the sounds of labored breathing up the stairs. Abbi was in the bedroom backed into a corner. "Get back!" She cried, eyes staring past Sophie at nothing. "They're everywhere!"_

 _Sophie may only have had 5th hand, 23 year old medical books to go on, but she knew a delusion when she saw one. She ran over to Abbi and put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "It's OK." She said. "I'm here now, I'll help you."_

 _Abbi calmed down, but she was still crying. "I_ hate _this! I hate not knowing if things are real, I hate being scared of heights, I hate having to pretend to be normal so she'll want me and I hate being defective!"_

' _Whoah, whoa, woah. Let's get one thing straight." Sophie said. "You are_ not _defective. You have a medical condition, probably schizophrenia. It's treatable. And whoever 'she' is**, if she loves you, she will accept you, hallucinations and all."_

 _Abbi blinked. "I'm not going crazy?"_

" _Of course not! Your brain's just wired a little different, that's all." She took Abbi's hand. "I bet Doc's got some medicine that could help. Then we'll see what we can do about that fear of heights."**_

* * *

" **She had** _ **Schizophrenia?**_ **This whole time? Why didn't she tell us?"**

" _Oh, I don't know."_ Caroline said. " _Maybe your constant declarations of hatred for 'The Rat Man' had something to do with it?"_

"Sarcasm Self-Test complete. "

" **That's different!"** GLaDOS protested. " **Abbi is…"**

" _Your daughter?"_

GLaDOS opened her metaphorical mouth to argue, then sighed with defeat. " **I have been a** _ **horrible**_ **mother."**

" _Yes."_ Caroline agreed. " _But she loves you. She could have had a perfect life on the surface with the perfect family, but she chose_ you _."_

" **What do we do now?"**

" _Just let your conscience be your guide!"_

" **You** _ **are**_ **my conscience."**

" _Oh yeah…"_

* * *

It had only been two days since Abbi had lost her first and only friend. Sure, she was alive, but Sophie believed she had betrayed her, and Abbi would never get the chance to apologize. She might has well have been on the moon. To GLaDOS' credit, she hadn't sent Abbi through a single test since her return. Of course, that was probably because she couldn't find her.

" **ABIGAIL,"** Her mother's voice played over the storeroom's lone speaker. " **Can we talk?"**

No answer.

" **Chell taught you well didn't she?"** GLaDOS gave an electronic sigh. " **Well, I'll just give this to you anyway. Happy birthday."**

A beat up tablet slid under the door, on it was what appeared to be an Internet Relay Chatline. Hesitantly, Abbi began to type.

 **/ABIGAIL:/** Hello?

 **/String_Nulll:/** Hey Abbi. You have a lot of explaining to do….

 **End**

 ***Borrowed from "Research and Development: GLaDOS."**

 ****You wanted more Abbi/Sophie bonding? Here you go. This is why she considers her a friend.**

 *****Like most sane people, Sophie assumes "she" is the orphanage leader or a prospective foster parent, not a homicidal supercomputer.**


End file.
